Cell Culture

Abstract

A method for determining the effect of a plurality of culture conditions on a cell, comprising the steps of: a) providing a first set of groups of cell units each comprising one or more cells, and exposing said groups to desired culture conditions; (b) pooling two or more of said groups to form at least one second pool; (c) subdividing the second pool to create a further set of groups of cell units; (d) exposing said further groups to desired culture conditions; (e) optionally, repeating steps (b)-(d) iteratively as required; and (f) optionally assessing the effect on a given cell unit of the culture conditions to which it has been exposed.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention relates to cell culture, and in particular to the culture of primary cells, cell lines, pluripotent cells, totipotent cells and stem cells and the regulation of their various cellular processes through modulation of cell culture conditions. The invention relates to the use of multiple culture steps under a plurality of conditions to modulate cellular pathways and provides methods for determining the effect of diverse multiple culture step regimes on cellular processes such as growth, differentiation and metabolic activity. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION [0002] Over recent years cell culture has become a core technology in the life sciences. Cell culture is described in ‘Basic Cell Culture’ Oxford University Press (2002) Ed. J. M. Davis; and ‘Animal Cell Culture’ Oxford University Press (2000) Ed. John R. W. Masters; both of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. Cell culture provides the basis for studying cellular proc...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0025] The above method of the invention, known as combinatorial cell culture, or split-pool culturing, allows cells to be subjected to a series of culture conditions, and exposed to a series of agents in culture media, in a systematic and highly productive manner.

[0065] The invention moreover broadly provides methods of culturing cells adherent to solid carriers such as microcarriers or beads. Such carriers can be composed of macromolecules such as cellulose, dextran, agarose, or acrylamide, or inorganic materials such as glass. The surfaces of the carriers may be further modified by physical or chemical treatments, such as adsorption or covalent cross-linking of molecular entities with a desired charge or other desired characteristic. Alternatively, the carrier may consist of a cell or cells encapsulated within a matrix that allows perfusion of sub-cellular sized material. Microcarrier culture has significant advantages, including the scale-up of cultures, and also allows cell units to be conveniently exposed to selected culture conditions as required in order to cause the desired cellular process. In the broadest embodiment, therefore, the invention provides a method for culturing cells in vitro, comprising growing said cells adhered to a microcarrier or bead.

Problems solved by technology

Owing to the cumbersome nature of conventional cell culture, empirical determination of tissue culture conditions in complex, multi-stage procedures is not feasible in practice as it involves massive work loads.

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